Stephanie Rice and Nick D’Arcy expected to resume competitive swimming – Swimming News
The three-time Olympic champion, Stephanie Rice, and Pan Pacific silver medallist, Nicholas James D’Arcy are expected to resume competitive swimming after recovering from their severe injuries.
The duo of Australian veterans is going to participate at the 2012 New South Wales (NSW) State Open Swimming Championships starting from February 10.
Following the 2011 Shanghai World Championships, Rice suffered a shoulder injury, for which she had to undergo a surgery in December 2011. This put a halt to her training program as she was struggling hard to prove her mettle at the Australian Selection
Trials for the 2012 London Olympic Games in mid-March.
The 23-year-old Rice captured three gold medals in the 200m Individual Medley (IM), 400m IM and 4*200m freestyle relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After that, she gained a silver medal in the 200m IM and 4*100m medley relay while a bronze in the 400m IM
at the 2009 world titles. Recently, she ended third in 400m IM and 4*100m Medley relay at the 2011 Shanghai Championships.
Nevertheless, Rice’s mentor, Michael Bohl expressed that she can only ensure her berth to London, if she can endure a gruelling training program in the upcoming weeks.
Furthermore, while talking to AAP, Bohl said, “We'll just see how it's holding together. If she can't swim at the meet we'll just push ahead to trials nonetheless. We certainly won't be risking her flaring her shoulder up at a swim meet if we don't feel
that it's right.”
In contrast, Bohl was utterly positive regarding the participation of D’Arcy, who was harmed at the meet.
“Nick has had his injuries, touch wood, pretty much under control for the last four or five weeks. It's my expectation he's about 95 per cent,” Bohl added.
The NSW Championships will also include Australia’s top class swimmers, James Magnussen, Geoff Huegill, Eamon Sullivan, Leisel Jones and Emily Seebohm. Furthermore, Cameron McEvoy and Jarrod Killey have also registered themselves in their exclusive events
at the Sydney event.
The meet will play a crucial role in projecting rankings of the Australian players at the Olympic qualifiers scheduled next month.
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